If Sidney Rice returns to the Minnesota Vikings, first he’s going to pass “Go” and he’ll collect far more than $200.
Rice will enter free agency before he makes any decisions on his future. Agent Drew Rosenhaus told ESPN that the wide receiver will not sign with the Vikings before at least exploring what else is available.
Rice has only four years of service and therefore there is no guarantee he will be unrestricted, but that is the expectation. Minnesota coach Leslie Frazier announced that the team had made a long-term offer to Rice. Now, Rice has made it known he will eventually field offers from other teams whenever free agency begins. The question is how much will someone be willing to pay him? Rice had a monster season in 2009 with Brett Favre. He’s coming off hip surgery and his other three seasons were not anything special.
“(Rice) is a high, high priority, and I didn't want him to be sensitive about the fact that it was Chad being franchised instead of Sidney," Frazier said. "That does not mean that we're not going to do right by Sidney, but we couldn't franchise both of them. We want to get Sidney signed and take care of him, because he's going to take care of our football team.”
The Vikings exercised their franchise tag on linebacker Chad Greenway.
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Brad Biggs covers the Bears for the Chicago Tribune